Chick-fil-A Says It’s Too Good for Iceberg Lettuce

Call me untrendy, but I love iceberg lettuce: the crunch, the texture, the bitterness when you get towards the heart. Meanwhile, I think Chick-fil-A is a bit on the overrated side. I love a good chicken sandwich as much as the next guy, but I certainly don’t think it’s line-up-around-the-block worthy. Turns out Chick-fil-A and I are in disagreement about at least a couple of things.

In a recent piece on Business Insider, the fast food chicken chain proclaimed that they have instituted a ban on the ubiquitous crispy lettuce heads. “We have a mandate: Never use iceberg lettuce,” said Chick-fil-A vice president of menu strategy and development David Farmer. “It's at the bottom of the salad food chain.”

So just what’s so wrong with iceberg? Farmer later provided a slightly more detailed answer: “There is no nutritional value in iceberg lettuce.”

As an iceberg defender, let me take a moment to point out the irony in a fast food chain dismissing a lettuce over nutritional value. Sure, it has less nutritional value than many other leafy greens, but do you really want me to put it head-to-head nutritionally against a Chick-fil-A Frosted Lemonade or even a side of Waffle Fries? Also keep in mind this is the same fast food chain that accidentally implied eating chicken nuggets every three to four hours is a healthy diet plan.

Granted, I get what Chick-fil-A is trying to do. “Our focus over the last couple years has been around health,” Farmer told Business Insider. And that’s totally fine. But banning iceberg entirely? Doesn’t that seem a little limiting? It’d be like opening a restaurant that only serves chicken…. Alright, maybe it’s not unprecedented.